The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission published guidance on September 9, 2022, for employers to address marijuana impairment in the workplace. The guidance does not, however, provide the long-awaited certification standards for Workplace Impairment Recognition Experts.

In February 2021, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (CREAMMA), legalized adult use recreational marijuana. The law allows employers to conduct drug testing for marijuana as long as the drug test includes scientifically reliable testing of blood, urine, or saliva, and a physical evaluation in order to determine an employee’s state of impairment. The physical evaluation must be conducted by an individual with the necessary certification to opine on the employee’s state of impairment, or lack thereof, related to the use of cannabis. The Commission, in consultation with the Police Training Commission, is to prescribe standards for a Workplace Impairment Recognition Expert (WIRE), who must be trained to detect and identify an employee’s use or impairment from cannabis or other intoxicating substances and for assisting in the investigation of workplace accidents. WIRES will be certified by the Commission.

The September 9^th Guidance states that the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission still is formulating standards for WIRES. In the meantime, the Commission stated that CREAMMA “does not impede the ability of employers to continue to utilize...

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